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Sugath Kulatunga

In his budget speech 2024 President RW waxed eloquent on his proposal to give legal ownership of land to 2 million families who are now owning them under a license system. He has tried to give the proposal an undeserving anti-colonial nationalist flavor by referring to this land as lands acquired by the British under the Waste Lands Ordinance of 1897. Professor G.H. Peris has pointed out that most of these lands went under plantations. These lands were not redistributed among farmers under the Land Development Ordinance of 1935. His statement is given in the Budget Speech under the heading Urumaya” Programme as Waste Land Ordinance was passed in 1897. The British government acquired thousands of acres of rural land across the country under that Ordinance.

Afterwards, in 1935, under the Land Development Ordinance, those land slots were distributed among farmers under the license system. But although around hundred years have passed, the ownership of these farmlands has not been handed back to the farmers who own them. As mentioned in the drama Chalk Circle”, farmers with good conduct; should win the land and villages” We are handing over the lands to farmers who lost the ownership of their traditional lands during the British colonial era. We expect to commence this task in 2024 and complete it within another few years. Two million (2,000,000) families will get the ownership of land and farmland. I allocate Rs. 2 billion for this purpose.”

On the surface this scheme appears to be a farmer friendly plan to give the farmer the legal right to the land and allow him to use it as a disposable asset where the owner is given the right to dispossess the property which was restricted by the Land Development Ordinance of 1933.

This was precisely the proposal in the MCC Compact which was rejected. It was worded as The goal of the Land Project is to increase the availability of information on private land and underutilized state lands or all land in Sri Lanka to which the Government is lawfully entitled or which may be disposed of by the Government (State Lands) in order to increase land market activity.

The Land Grants Registration and Deed Conversion Activity aims to strengthen tenure security by supporting the conversion of State Lands to the private domain, creating a marketable and bankable title to this land in the name of the landholder. The Government will register the absolute land grants in the title registration system, allowing the use of land as collateral for loans and the free transfer of this land without excessive government restrictions”.

This was completely contrary to the objectives of the 1933 Ordinance of which the key principles were to:-

1. Prevent the disposal of Crown land by outright sale.

2. Land to be alienated by a system of selection and not by auction.

3. Prevent land alienated to a particular class passing into the hands of other classes.

4. Prevent the fragmentation of land.

5. Ensure succession and keep the new owners out of courts of law in that aspect.

The Ordinance encompassing these principles was the brainchild of D.S. Senanayake, the Father of the Nation and was presented to the State Council by another stalwart of the UNP John Kothalawala. It was the intimate knowledge of the repercussions of giving legal ownership to allottees of land, that D.S. and team did not open them to dispossession and litigation.

We had patriots among rulers in 1933.

In that context it is ironical that RW is surreptitiously bringing back the rejected proposals on land policy as described under the Land Project in the MCC Agreement.

In introducing the Land Development Bill in the State Council Sir John said that In the past, the disposal of land was done by public auction, and there were many disadvantages in this system. It gave a distinct advantage to the capitalist class in buying up land as against the less fortunate individual.”

“We must not forget that we have very few acres left and if we do not introduce some sort of Ordinance to prevent the wholesale alienation of land we will have to migrate to other countries in search of land.”

Sir John was concerned with the local capitalist class buying up the land from poor landowners but in the present context there is the grave danger of the local money lender, the rich mudalali who would convert a mortgage to an outright sale. There will be more desperate landowners who are drug and alcohol addicts who would readily sell their lands for a pittance. With the LKR at 360 to a dollar and 396 to an Indian Rupee it would be a bonanza for foreign buyers to buy up cheap land in Sri Lanka. What happened in Palestine when the Jews backed by financial institutions dispossessed the land of Palestinians and the aftermath that followed is not a flight of imagination. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sursock_Purchases

In addition, outright sale of landholdings resulting in fragmenting of farmland among dependents would be a serious disadvantage to mechanization and modernization of the already stamp size farmlands. Fragmentation even among relatives is bound to increased litigation. In the rural areas disharmony among neighbors and crime has its root mainly in land disputes.

Sri Lanka consist of 6.55 million ha of land area where only about 50% is arable. Per capita availability of arable land is only 0.15 hectares (approximately 60 perches). Land is a precious national asset and should be protected.

Budget 2024 has several positive proposals which should be pursued. But to revive the rejected MMC proposal should be condemned and rejected. It is unfortunate that this vital issue has not yet been widely exposed.

The proposed allocation of Rs. 2 billion could be spent on the better utilization of these lands.

Sugath Kulatunga

Media Release Sri Lanka High Commission Canberra

Sri Lanka High Commissioner in Australia Chitrangani Wagiswara paid an official call on the Minister for Multiculturalism, Small Business, Lands and Property and Sport of New South Wales (NSW) Steve Kamper on 7 November 2023 at his office.

The minister spoke of the large number of Sri Lankan expatriates who have made their mark in NSW and noted that most of the Sri Lankans are very well educated and well integrated into the Australian Society. The minister has been closely involved with most of the activities which are organized by Sri Lankan associations in Sydney. The High Commissioner stated that she was pleased to note the encouraging sentiments expressed by the minister.

The two sides discussed avenues for further cooperation and the need for the State government’s assistance in promoting links between Australia and Sri Lanka especially in the trade sector. It was agreed that the High Commission and the State Minister’s Office would keep in close contact to facilitate and promote further links that would be mutually beneficial.

During the visit to Sydney, the President of the Sri Lanka Australia Chamber of Commerce Kalum de Silva organised a Business Round Table on 8 November 2023. Members from the Australia-Sri Lanka Business Council also attended the Round Table.

In his introductory remarks, Kalum de Silva highlighted the ongoing activities and programmes that are in place between Sri Lanka and Australia. He also spoke of the visit to Sri Lanka by a business delegation organized in partnership with the Victoria State Government, the Aboriginal Economic Development Group (AEDG) and other stakeholders. Meetings were held in Sri Lanka with Export Development Board, National Chamber of Commerce, SLASSCom and other stakeholders as well as visits to places of interest.

 In addressing the participants at the Round Table, the High Commissioner outlined the areas of cooperation and potential that could be looked into by those interested in business and the investment sectors. Some of those present at the Round Table raised issues that need to be addressed in promoting trade and investment links and made suggestions on areas that could be pursued.

The High Commissioner invited the members of the chambers and other interested parties to be in touch with the High Commission as well as the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Melbourne so that any assistance sought and networking opportunities could be arranged.

Sri Lanka High Commission

Canberra

By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera Courtesy The Daily Mirror

PARLIAMENT (Daily Mirror) – The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) will not be convened until issues pertaining to its chairman is resolved, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced today.

The Speaker’s announcement came after opposition MPs requested him to remove COPE Chairman Prof. Ranjith Bandara from his post. 

“COPE members should resolve the issue pertaining to Professor Bandara as per the Standing Orders,” the Speaker said. 

The COPE meeting scheduled for 1 p.m. today was also cancelled, the speaker announced.

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa said a report submitted by the Sri Lanka Audit Services Association revealed that the COPE chairman had failed in his duty by refraining from issuing recommendations.

It has also been found that the Colombo Business School, headed by Professor Bandara, has reached a business deal with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), Premadasa said.

National Peoples Power (NPP) MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake also requested the Speaker to remove Professor Bandara from his post.

“Professor Bandara should be kept away from at least the probe into Sri Lankan cricket,” he said.

BY YOHAN PERERA AND AJITH SIRIWARDANA

COLOMBO (Daily Mirror)- President Ranil Wickremesinghe had a discussion with Asian Cricket Council president Jay Shah on Thursday to discuss the cricket crisis in Sri Lanka, Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said today.

He told this in Parliament while responding to a claim by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa alleging that Jay Shah’s father is the right-hand man of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

“One must not politicise the cricket crisis using parliamentary privileges. Sri Lankan cricketers will not be able to play even division 1 cricket as a result of Sri Lanka’s suspension from ICC,” he said. 

Minister Harin Fernando said even ground boys cannot be paid their salaries because of the ICC suspension. Sri Lanka will lose the opportunity of hosting the Under 19 World Cup in January next year, he said.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Committee on High Posts has approved the appointment of former Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama as the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

He had served as the Cabinet Minister of Foreign Affairs from 28 January 2007 until he was defeated in the General Elections held on 8 April 2010, losing his seat in parliament.

Bogollagama also briefly served as the Governor of the Eastern Province from July 2017 to December 2018.

Further, the High Posts Committee also approved the following appointments:

• Mrs. K.D. Seneviratne – High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India

• Mr. D.D.M.S.B Dissanayake – High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the Republic of Singapore

• Mr. W.K.C. Weerasena – Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Kingdom of Belgium and the European Union

• Mr. K.D.N.R. Asoka – Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government

• Dr. B.K.J. K Perera – Chairman of Ceylon Fertilizer Company Ltd.

The Committee on High Posts met in Parliament on Wednesday (Nov.15) under the chairmanship of Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva and Vidura Wickramanayake, MPs John Seneviratne, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Rishad Bathiudeen and Udaya Gammanpila were present at this committee meeting.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Sri Lankan government, expressing its regret, has condemned the statements targeting the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah, ICC officials and other ICC member countries. 

Taking into X (formerly Twitter), Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said the government is committed to hosting and facilitating the 2024 Under-19 Cricket World Cup as previously planned and vowed to work with the ICC to resolve the suspension of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). 

Furthermore, he highlighted that after the conclusion of discussions with the stakeholders, the Cabinet sub-committee would submit the recommendations and proposals on the path to resolving the suspension, administration and legal structure, good governance, transparency, accountability and development of the sport across all levels.

Wijesekera told the parliament today that President Ranil Wickremesinghe had telephoned the ACC President and expressed regret over the remarks blaming him for the collapse of Sri Lankan cricket.

We cannot point fingers at him, or other countries, for the shortcomings of our institutions. It is a wrong assumption,” he commented further.

Earlier this week, former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga slammed the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Jay Shah for ruining the Sri Lankan cricket, following the debacle over Sri Lanka’s miserable World Cup campaign.

Because of the connection between SLC officials and Jay Shah they (the BCCI) are under the impression that they can trample and control SLC,” Arjuna Ranatunga was quoted by local media.

Jay Shah is running Sri Lanka Cricket. SLC is being ruined because of pressure from Jay Shah. One man in India is ruining Sri Lankan cricket,” Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup winning captain had said.

Sri Lankan finished 9th on the Cricket World Cup points table winning 2 matches and losing 7 games. After the team’s poor run in the World Cup, the Sri Lankan cricket board was suspended by the International Cricket Council with immediate effect because of extensive government interference in the board’s administration.

-with inputs from agencies

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka will call for expressions of interest (EOI) in setting up nuclear power plants, its energy minister said on Friday, as it seeks cheap electricity to support its economic recovery.

The primary source of energy in the island nation is from imported oil and coal, and hydropower. The government aims to produce 70% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and it sees nuclear power as a low-carbon option for its energy mix. It aims to be carbon neutral by 2050.

The government intends to include the safe use of nuclear energy as a part of the long-term generation plans,” Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said in a post on the X social media platform, after meeting officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency in Colombo.

The government will call for EOIs for establishing nuclear power plants & modern technology”, he said.

Media in July cited Wijesekera as saying that Sri Lanka was assessing nuclear power plant offers from Russia, the United States, India and some European countries.

In 2010, the then energy secretary said Sri Lanka planned to build a one-gigawatt nuclear power plant by 2030.

India is the only South Asian country to have a nuclear power plant, built with Russian collaboration, while Bangladesh and Pakistan are in the process of setting them up.

Russia’s state-owned atomic company is building two nuclear power plants in Bangladesh while China and Pakistan signed a deal in June to build a 1,200-megwatt plant in Punjab province.

Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, secured a $2.9 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund in March to tackle a suffocating debt burden and its worst economic crisis since the end of colonial rule in 1948.

Source: Reuters
-Agencies

Garvin Karunaratne Former GA Matara 1971-1973

Having read what the newspapers detail on the first day of the budget, I get the impression that Poverty Alleviation and Training and Empovering the unemployed to become productive, making what the economy needs has not been given a place .

Opening new universities and selling off post offices is not what will create wealth. Thesale ofthepost offices will create wealth for Taj.not for us

Unfortunately we have been sold with the ridiculous idea that printing money should be restricted. Before the IMF took over running our country at the end of 1977, all development programmes- building he largest tanks and every officer was paid and all development functions were done with printed money. Of course printing money was done with great restrictions- endless commissions guzzling money was not done. If there was a major problem one of us administrators was tasked with it and it did not cost any additional money.

We have a mass of government staff- some 1.4 million fully paid-they have been confined to the barracks since 1977 on the IMF dictat that the private sector is the Engine of Growth. It was forgotten that the aim of the private Sector was aggrandizing wealth. At Kegalla when I was the Additional Government Agent, the GA was in sole charge and presided over the DCC meeting where all development ideas were discussed and decisions reached. That was also the situation in Matara in 1971-73 when I served as the GA. Later on a petty political personage was put in charge and the Government Agent pushed to the background. What has to be done is to get back the GA.to handle all development. Throw him to the wolves if he fails.

At Matara in 1971-73 I was having some twenty Development Officers. Now there are some 500 to 800 Development Officers in a District. Get them working.

In 1957, when the Prime Minister Mr Dudley Senanayake took charge he wanted to increase the yield of paddy and he entrusted that task to the Government Agent of the District. To enable the GA to devote his full time for paddy production, for every district a senior officer was posted as Additional GA and the GA was totally to handle paddy production. As the Additional GA at Kegalla the entire Katcheri was run by me and the GA did not have to do anything in it.

A major change took place when Premier Sirimavo won the 1970 election. She created the Divisional Development Councils Programme and the GA of the District had to devote his full time to it. The Additional GA did the normal work of the District. In 1977 the Government abolished the DDCP and since then the Government Agent has no duties- he has crept back to handle some of the normal work that the Additional GA did!

Thus there are many high ranking officers who can be called upon immediately and this does not cost a single cent

To get back to the budget my thinking is that there should be a major programme to train the unemployed to get into production. This was an essential part of the DDCP Programme where many small farms were established where the unemployed youths were trained in agriculture and livestock. That was a great success and the DDCP created a mass of 33,300 scientifically trained youths. Imports have to be curtailed- even stopped. This offers the major path to saving our foreign exchange that is being used to import jam., fruit juice, tomato sauce and many such items that can be made within six months. The trained youth all became entrepreneurs producing vegetables, various crops and drew good incomes.

If this training cum production is to be mooted a marketing organization has to be established to collect the produce and marketing it. This is the task of the Marketing Department of old- from before 1948 to 1977 we had a Department of Marketing that collected produce at the fairs, brought the produce to Colombo overnight and sold it at reasonable rates in the cities. This type of organization is a must.

The unemployed have to be trained to produce many small industrial items that are imported and The Crayon Factory I myself established in Matara tells us what has to be done.

I wanted to establish an industry and I had already established the Matara Boatyard that made 40 seaworthy fishing boats fitted with engines that were sold to fishery cooperatives. It was so great a success that the Ministry of Plan Implementation was highly satisfied and was fighting shy of any further industries. Perhaps they were worried that it could be a disaster and they would lose face. I took charge and directed my Planning Officer to find the method of making crayons. We took over the science lab of Rahula College after hours and from six in the evening to mid night my Planning Officer who happened to be a chemistry grad was instructed by me to try to find the art of making crayons. He with the help of science teachers at Rahula College were experimenting to find the art of making crayons. Though we spent every day for two months from six to midnight at the science lab we never made any crayon worthwhile. Then the Planning Officer thought of obtaining the help of his professors in chemistry and he spent three full days at the University of Colombo pleading of the professors for help only to be turned away. This total rejection made us ever determined and we continued our experiments and in another month the Planning Officer found the art of making a good crayon. Then I sat with him for some nights and we finalized the art of making a crayon equal to Reeves crayons the best of the day.

Then I had the problem of establishing a factory. I had no funds, no authority to divert any of the money I spent on various programmes. I could have summoned Harischandra and give him the recipe but it wont be us. Finally I summoned Sumanapala Dahanayake, the member of parliament for Deniyaya who happened to be President of the Morawak Korale Coop Union. When I told him of the task to establish a programme he gladly undertook to do it. But he had to use the money in the Coop Union for which he had no authority. I issued him a letter authorizing him to use cooperative funds and establish the industry. I had around five officers including the Planning Officer Vetus Fernando who were involved in the experiments to find the art of making crayons and in two days time when Sumanapala had cordoned a section of his coop union we moved to Morawaka and trained youths on a 24 hour basis for two weeks. In the second week labels and packets were printed and we filled two large rooms with packets of crayons. It was a difficult task as the product was handmade and every crayon had to be hand crafted.

Finally we had to come to the open and sell the crayons. Sumanapala and I took some crayons and showed them to the Minister of Industries. Mr TB Subasinghje was surprised that we made so fine crayons and agreed to open sales. We rushed back and in a few days held an opening ceremony where with the grace of the Minister of Industries opening sales we had won the day.

The only ingredient that was imported for the manufacture was dyes and the Ministry of Industries refused to give us a small allocation of foreign exchange as we were a cooperative. Finally our slethus- we had informants in many areas- they reported that the Controller of Imports was about to authorize the import of crayons and Sumanapala and I moved in. We managed to show the crayons we made to the Controller of Imports and convinced him to stop imports and allocate a small fraction of the money for us to import dyes and we would step up production, But because this cross allocation of foreign exchange had never been done earlier he wanted us to obtain the approval of the Hon Minister Mr Illangaratne. He was an immediate convert the moment we showed him the crayons we made. He authorized giving us an allocation of foreign exchange to import dyes and also got me to agree to establish a Crayon Factory at Kolonnawa, his electorate. He also ordered that all imports of crayons should be stopped.

Finally the Crayon Factory that we established had islandwide sales and this factory became the flagship industry of the DDCProgramme.

Our President and Hon Prime Minister, Dear sirs, Please establish a small programme to train our unemployed youths in agriculture, livestock and industry and let them get to produce what our country needs.

The true details I have penned about the success of the Crayon Factory may somehow enable a programme to train our youth to become entrepreneurs. The funds required are all in rupees.

May I stop writing, with the humble request that our President and our Prime Minister may please decide on some initiative to commence immediately.

Garvin Karunaratne Former GA Matara 1971-1973

15/11/2023

Ministry of Defence  – Media Centre

Ambassador of France to Sri Lanka H.E. Jean-François Pactet engaged in a friendly discussions with the State Minister of Defence Hon. Premitha Bandara Tennakoon when he called on him at his office in Colombo today (Nov 15).

Extending a warm reception to the French Ambassador, Minister Tennakoon sat down for a discussion that aimed at bolstering the longstanding ties between the two countries.

The meeting exemplified the mutual commitment of France and Sri Lanka in enhancing strategic cooperation, particularly in the realms of defence, maritime security and High Availability Disaster Recovery (HADR).

The State Minister expressed gratitude for France’s assistance on multiple spheres and reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s commitment to strengthening the existing ties.

The French Ambassador was accompanied by Deputy Head of Mission, Mrs. Marie-Noëlle Duris and French Military Technical Cooperation Officer in Charge of Maritime Security, Commander Jean-Baptiste Trouche.

Manusha Media

ගෘහ සේවිකාවන්ට ගරුත්වයක් ලබාදෙන වැඩසටහනක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරනවා.-කම්කරු හා විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍ය මනූෂ නානායක්කාර

විදේශ රැකියා වල නිතර ගෘහ සේවිකාවන්ට කරදර සිදුවන බවට කෑ ගැසීමට රාජ්‍ය නොවන සංවිධාන ඕනෑ තරම් තිබෙන නමුත්, ඉතා සුළු වැටුපකට වහලුන් මෙන් සේවය ලබාගන්නා දේශීය ගෘහ සේවිකාවන් සම්බන්ධයෙන් හඬක් නැගෙන්නේ නැති බවත්, මෙයට විසදුමක් ලබාදෙමින් ඔවුන්ට ගරුත්වයක් ලබාදෙන වැඩසටහනක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන බවත් කම්කරු හා විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍ය මනූෂ නානායක්කාර මහතා පැවසීය.

රටක් ලෙස අනාගතවාදී වී අනාගතය වෙනුවෙන් වැඩකලයුත බවද  අවිධිමත් අංශයේ ශ්‍රමිකයින්ට ගරුත්වයක් ලබාදීම සඳහා ක්‍රියාත්මක ගරු සරු” වැඩසටහන යටතේ ගෘහ සේවිකාවන්  සමඟ අද (15) පැවති සාකච්ඡාවකදී පැවසුවේය.

අමාත්‍යවරයා මේ බව සදහන් කළේ අවිධිමත් අංශයේ ශ්‍රමිකයින්ට ගරුත්වයක් ලබාදීම සදහා ක්‍රියාත්මක ගරු සරු” වැඩසටහන යටතේ ගෘහ සේවිකාවන් සමග පැවති සාකච්ඡාවකදීය

එහිදී අමාත්‍යරයා මෙසේද පැවසීය.
මේ රටේ සෑම වෘත්තියකම නිරත වෙලා පිරිසට විශේෂයෙන්ම අවිධිමත් අංශයේ වෘත්තීන් වල නිරත වෙලා ඉන්න පිරිසට ගරුත්වය ලබා දීමත් සාරවත්භාවයක් ලබාදීම තමයි මේ වැඩසටහනේ අරමුණ වෙන්නේ. ඒකට අවශ්‍ය පසුබිම හදන්නයි අපි කටයුතු කරන්නේ. එහිදී හැම වෘත්තකයෙක්ම වයසට ගියාම බලාගන්න වැඩ පිළිවෙලක් තියෙන්න ඕනේ.  
අපි අවුරුද්දකට අධික කාලයක් මේ ගැන කතා කළා අවශ්‍ය මූලික වැඩකටයුතු කළා.  අපි අද මේ කතා කරන්නේ නිසි වැඩ පිළිවෙලක් සමඟින් වගේම ඊට අවශ්‍ය මූලික අනුමැතීන් පවා ලබාගෙනයි.   ලංකාවේ දැනට  ඊ.ටී.එෆ්. ඊ.පී.එෆ්. වලට දායක වන්නේ ලක්ෂ විසි පහක පමණ පිරිසක් විතරයි. ඒ කියන්නේ හාම්පුතා සහ සේවකයා අතර සම්බන්ධතාවයක් තියෙන කොම්පැනි වල සෘජු රැකියා කරන අය තමයි මේකට දායක වෙන්නේ.
ඇත්තටම අනතුරක් වුනොත් ඒ ගැන බලාගන්න, අවුරුදු 55න් පස්සේ දීමනාවක් ලබා ගන්න හැකියාව ලැබෙන්නේ ඒ අයට විතරයි. ඒ වගේම  මේ අයට මාතෘ නිවාඩු වගේ පහසුකම් ගොඩක් තියෙනවා.

හැබැයි තවත් රටේ වැඩ කරන ලක්ෂ පනහකට හැටකට වගේ පිරිසක් ඉන්නවා. ඒ අය අර කලින් කිව්ව වගේ රැකියා නොකරන අයයි. මේ අයට විශ්‍රාම වැටුපක් හෝ පාරිතෝෂික දීමනාවක්වත් වැනි කිසිවක් නැහැ. මේ අයට වැඩ කරගන්න බැරි වුනායින් පස්සේ ජීවත් වෙන්නේ කෙහොමද කියලා කවුරුවත් හොයලා බලන්නේ නැහැ.

හැමෝගෙන්ම වැඩගන්න පුළුවන් කාලයේ වැඩ ගන්නවා. ගෘහ සේවිකාව, මේසන් බාස්ට වගේම අනිකුත් හැම අවිධිමත් ක්ෂේත්‍රයකම නිරතවෙලා ඉන්න අය තමන්ගේ අතේ පයේ හයිය තියෙනකම් වැඩ කරනවා. ඊට පස්සේ ඒ අයට කිසිම ආරක්ෂාවක්, රැකවරණයක් නැතිවෙනවා.

අපි රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින් දිහා බලමු, ඒ අයට ජනතාවගේ බදු මුදල් වලින් වැටුපක් ගෙවනවා. ඒ වගේම ඒ අයට තියෙනවා විශ්‍රාම වැටුපක්. ඒ අය මැරෙනකම්ම ඒ විශ්‍රාම වැටුපට හිමිකම් කියනවා. ඒ අතරතුරදී මාතෘ නිවාඩු වගේ ගොඩක් පහසුකම් දීමනා තියෙනවා. පෞද්ගලික අංශයේ සේවකයින්ටත් ඒ වගේම පහසුකම් තියෙනවා. ඒ අයට විශ්‍රාම වැටුප වෙනුවට පාරිතෝෂික තියෙනවා.

ඒත් ගෘහ සේවයේ ඉන්න ඔබට මේ කිසිවක් නැහැ. එහෙනම් රටේ වැඩි පිරිසක් ඉන්න වක්‍ර රැකියා සහ අවිධිමත් අංශයේ වෘත්තීන් වලයි නිතරවෙලා ඉන්නේ. ඒත් රටේ ආර්ථිකයට දැවන්ත දායකත්වයක් ලබා දෙන ඔබට ඇතුලු මේ පිරිසට මම කලින් කිව්ව පහසුකම් ලබා ගැනීමේ හැකියාවක් නැහැ.

ඒ නිසා අපි කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලයට යෝජනා කළා මේ දේවල් පුළුල් කරලා සියලු වැඩ කරන ජනතාවට සමාජ ආරක්ෂණ ක්‍රමවේදයක් සකස් කිරීම සඳහා අනුමැතිය ලබා දෙන්න කියලා. එහිදී  කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලය මාස 6ක් ඇතුලත මේ වැඩපිළිවෙල ඉදිරිපත් කළයුතුයි කියලා අපිට කිව්වා.
 මෙහිදී අපිට ඔබව සමාජ ආරක්ෂණ වැඩපිළිවෙලට සම්බන්ධ කරන්නේ කොහොමද කියලා ඉදිරිපත් කරන්නයි තියෙන්නේ.  එතකොට මේ වැඩපිළිවෙල ක්‍රියාත්මක වීමෙන් පස්සේ ඔබටත් අවුරු 55න් පස්සේ විශ්‍රාම වැටුපක් එහෙමත් නැත්තම් එකවර හිමිවෙන දිමනාවක්, හරියට ඊ.පී.එෆ්. ඊ.ටී.එෆ්. එක වගේ ක්‍රමයකට සම්බන්ධ වෙන්න පුළුවන්.
එහිදී ඔබටත් මාතෘ නිවාඩු හිමිවෙන, අනෙකුත් පහසුකම් ලැබෙන ක්‍රමවේදයක් සකස් කිරීම ගැන සාකච්ඡා කිරීමටයි අද ඔබට මෙතැනට පැමිණෙන ලෙසට ආරාධනා කළේ. ඒත් මේ ක්‍රමවේදය කම්කරු ඇමති විදිහට මම තනියම හදලා හරියන්නේ නැහැ.  
 
නොදැනුවත්කම නැති කරගන්න පුළුවන් නම් ලෝකය ගොඩක් ඉස්සරහට යන්න පුළුවන්.  අද සමාජයෙත් ලොකුම හතුරා වෙලා තියෙන්නේ නොදැනුවත්කමයි. බොහොවෙලාවට ප්‍රශ්න ඇති වෙන්නෙත් නොදැනුවත්කම නිසයි.

නිලධාරීන් එක්ක එකතු වෙලා වැඩපිළිවෙලවල් සකස් කරන්න යද්දි අපිට තියෙන ලොකුම ප්‍රශ්න වෙන්නේ නොදැනුවත්කමයි. අපි ඔබේ වෘත්තිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් දැනුවත් නැහැ. එනිසාමයි ඔබ රැකියාවේ නිතර වෙන ක්ෂේත්‍රයට ගරුත්වයක්, සාරවත්බවක් දෙන්නෙ කොහොමද කියලා අවබෝධ කරගැනීමට ඔබේ දැණුවත්කම, අත්දැකීම්  අපිට අවශ්‍ය වෙන්නේ.

ගෘහ සේවිකාවන් විවිධ ගම් පළාත් වලට ඇවිල්ලා,  රැකියාව කරනවා.  ඒත් මේ අයගේ වැටුප පිළිබඳ කිසිම නිෂ්චිත බවක් නැහැ. ඒ නිසාම ඉතාම අඩු වැටුප් ලබන කාන්තාවන් ඉන්නවා.  ඒ වගේම මේ අයගේ සෞඛ්‍ය තත්ත්වය පිළිබඳව සොයා බැලීම් වෙන්නෙත් ඉතාම අඩුවෙනුයි.

බෙහෙත් ටිකක් ගණ්න ගියාම, සමහර හාම්පුතුන් හොදනම් ගැටලුවක් නැහැ ඒත් හම්පුතා හොඳ නැත්තම් අපහසුතා ඇති වෙනවා. ඒ වගේම මේ අයට ගෘහස්ථව සිදුවන හිංසන, ඒවාට ගන්න පුළුවන් ක්‍රියාමාර්ග මොනවාද? ඒවාට කාටද පැමිණිලි කරන්නේ? කවුද ඒ අය ගැන බලන්න? කියන කාරණා ගැනත් අපි කතා කළයුතුයි.  

ඒ වගේම ඔබට හරියට නිදා ගන්න තැනක් දෙනවාද? ඒකට හරියන පහසුකම් ඒ නිවාස තුල තියෙනවාද? කියන කාරණා ප්‍රශ්ණයක් වෙලා තියෙනවා. ගෘහ සේවයට එන සමහර අයගෙත් විවිධ ප්‍රශ්ණ තියෙනවා. ඒ වගේම එයාලා හොරකම් කළා, අරහෙම කළාමෙහෙම කළා වගේ නොයෙකුත් පැමිණිලි එන්නත් පුළුවන්. ඒ සඳහාත් අපි විසදුමක් හොයමු.
අද වෙනකොට ඕනෑම කෙනෙකුට ඇවිල්ලා වැඩ කරන්න පුළුවන්. අපි ඒක වෙනස් කරමු. ඔබටත් වෘත්තිය ගරුත්වය දෙන්න නම් ඒ සදහා යම් කිසි ක්‍රමවේදයක් ඔබ යෝජනා කළයුතුයි. උදාහරණයක් විදිහට ගෘහ සේවය සදහා විදේශගත වෙනවා නම් ඒ සදහා එන්.වී.කිව්  3 මට්ටමේ සහතිකයක් තියෙන්න ඕනේ.  
ඒ වගේම ඔබත් පුහුණුවක් ඕනේද? ඒ වගේම අවුරුද්දකට සැරයක් ඒ තත්ත්වය තියෙනවාද? සෞඛ්‍ය තත්ත්වය හොඳද කියලා බලන ක්‍රමවේදයක් නැත්තම් කොයි විදිහටද මේ වෘත්තියේ ගුණාත්මකභාවය තියාගෙන යන්නේ?  වැටුප් තලයන් කොහොමද තීරණය කරන්නේ ? කියන කාරණා සකස් කරගත්තොත් මේ රටේ ගෘහ සේවයටත් ගෞරවණීයභාවයක් දෙන්න පුළුවන්.

අපේ රටේ ඕනේම කෙනෙක්ව ගෙදර වැඩට ගන්න පුළුවන්. හැබැයි විදේශ රටවලදී ගෙදරට වැඩට ගන්නවා නම් ඒ සඳහා රජයෙන් විශේෂ අනුමැතියක් ගතයුතුයි. එහිදී මේ සේවයට ගන්න කෙනාට නිදාගන්න පහසුකම් තියෙනවාද? වැඩ කරන කොනාට ටීවී එකක් බලන්න ඉඩක් කඩක් තියෙනවාද?  සෞඛ්‍ය පහසුකම් තියෙනවාද? කියල බලලයි රජයෙන් ගෙදරට වැඩට කෙනෙක් ගන්න අනුමැති දෙන්නේ.

අපි කියන්නේ අපේ රටෙත් එහෙම ක්‍රමවේදයක් තිබිය යුතුයි. කෙනෙක් වැඩට ගන්න හිතුනාම කෙනෙක් ගෙන්වන්න බැරි වෙන ඒ වැඩට ගන්න කෙනාට දෙන අවශ්‍ය අවම පහසුකම් මොනවාද කියලා බලලා ඒවා සපයන්න පුළුවන්නම් විතරක් කෙනෙක් වැඩට ගන්න ක්‍රමවේදයක් නිර්මාණය කිරීමටයි අපි කටයුතු කළයුත්තේ.
 අපි බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා ඔබේම වෘත්තීය සංවිධානයක් ගොඩනගන්න. ඒක වෘත්තීය සමිතියක් නෙමෙයි. නීතිඥයින්ට නම් නීතීඥ සංගමයක් තියෙනවා. ඒක වෘත්තීය සමිතියක් නෙමෙයි. ඒක නීතිඥ වෘත්තිය වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටින සංවිධානයක්.
ගෘහ නිර්මාණ ශිල්පීන්ටත්, ගණකාධිකාරීවරුන්නටත් වෙනම සංවිධාන තියෙනවා. ඒවා පෙනී ඉන්නේ වෘත්තිය වෙනුවෙන්. ඉතින් අපි කියන්නේ ගෘහ සේවිකාවන්ටත් ඔවුන් සියලුදෙනා එකතුවෙලා  ඒ වගේ ඔවුන්ගේ වෘත්තිය වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටින සංවිධානයක් පිහිටවියුතුයි කියලයි. එහිදී අපි ඒ සංවිධානයට නෛතික බලයක් දෙන්නත් අලුත් කම්කරු නීතිය යටතේ කටයුතු කරනවා.

අලුත් රැකී රක්ෂා පනතේ ඇතුල් කරලා තියෙනවා එක් එක් වෘත්තියට අදාලව තිබිය යුතු අවම කොන්දේසි ඇතුලත් කරන්න කියලා. එහිදී මේ කොන්දේසි හදන්නේ අපි නෙමෙයි. ඒවා හදාගන්නේ ඔබ සියලු දෙනා එකතු වෙලා සංවිධානයක් හදලා ඒ තුලින් අපිට කියනවා මෙන්න අවම කොන්දේසි කියලා. උදාරහණයක් විදිහට ගෘහ සේවයට ගන්නවා නම් ඒ ගෙදර අවම වශයෙන් මේ දෙවල් තිබිය යුතුයි. ඒ වගේම අපේ  පැත්තෙන් මේවා තිබිය යුතුයි කියල. ඒවා අපිට යොමු කළාට පස්සේ අපි ඒවා නීතියට ඇතුලත් කරනවා.

නීතියට දාපු ගමන්ම ජාත්‍යන්තර කම්කරු සංවිධානයේ සහතික කිරීමක් ලැබෙනවා. එතකොට රට වටේ ඉන්න සියලුම ගෘහ සේවිකාවන් සම්බන්ධ කරගතයුතුයි. ඔබේ සියලු දේවල් ඔබමයි තීරණය කරන්නේ. එහෙම තීරණය කරපු දේවල් අපිට කිව්වාම අමාත්‍යවරයාට බලය ලැබෙනවා ඒවා ගැසට් කරන්න. එතකොට මේ කියන තත්ත්වයන් නැති අවස්ථාවලදී කම්කරු අමාත්‍යංශයේ නිලධාරීන්ට ඒ ගැන පැමිණිලි කරන්න, ඒ අයව අත් අඩංගුවට ගන්න හැකියාව ලැබෙනවා. එතකොට ඔබට යම් අකටයුත්තක් වුනොත්, ඔබව බලාගත්තේ නැත්තම් ඒ පිරිසව කම්කරු දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව ඉදිරියට කැඳවීමේ බලය ලබාදෙනවා.  

අපිට තියෙනවා පනත සකස් වෙච්ච ගමන්ම ඔබ හදලා දෙන නීති රීති මාලාව ගැසට් කරන්න.  ඒ වගේම අපිට තියෙනවා මාස 6ක් ඇතුලත ඔබව සේවක අර්ථසාදක අරමුදලට දායක කරවගන්නේ කියන වැඩපිළිවෙල. ඒ වැඩේ වෙද්දි අපි මේ වැඩේ ආරම්භ කරන්නයි හදන්නේ. අපි අතීතයට බැනලාවත් අතීතයට චෝදනා කරලවත්, අරයා කළේ නැහැ, මෙයා කළේ නැහැ කියලා, කියන්නේ නැහැ.

අපි අනාගතවාදී වෙමු. අපි අනාගතය ගැන හිතමු. අපි අනාගතයට වැඩ කරමු. අපි හැමෝම එකතුවෙලා මේක විසඳගමු.
රටක් විදිහටත් අපි ඉතිහාසයට බැනලා, ඉතිහාසයට චෝදනා කරලා වැඩක් නැහැ. අන්තිමට වෙන්නේ අපි හිත් වේදනාවෙන් කටහරි බනින එක විතරයි. ඒත් අපිට රටේ පැහැදිලි අනාගතයක් පෙන්න තියෙනවා. රට වැටිලා තිබුණ තැන ඉදලා, ආර්ථිකය ගොඩ නැගිලා තියෙනවා. ගෘහ සේවය තියා කිසිම සේවයක් කරන්න බැරි තරමට ආර්ථිකය කඩා වැටුණු රටක් මේක.
ගිය අවුරුද්දේ මැයි මාසය වෙනකොට රට ගිණිගත්තා, ගිණි තිබ්බා, පාර්ලිමේන්තුවත් ගිනි තියන්න ගියා. ඒ හැමදේම ඔබට මතකයි. ත්‍රස්තවාදී කණ්ඩායමක් අතට රටේ බලය යන්න තිබුණ අවස්ථාවක් ඒක. පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ගිනි තියලා, කුඩු කරලා ත්‍රස්තවාදී කණ්ඩායමක් මේ රටේ බලය ගන්නයි  ගියේ. ඒක හරියට ඇෆ්ගනිස්ථානයේ වගේ ත්‍රස්වාදීන්ගේ අතට බලය යන්න ගියපු අවස්ථාවක් නතර වෙලා නැවතත් රටේ සාමය, නීතිය ස්ථාපති වීමක්. සියයට හැත්තෑව දක්වා ගිය රටේ උද්ධමනය, සියයට එකයි දශම හතරට උද්ධමනය අඩුවෙලා තියෙනවා.

ඒ දවස් වල බඩුමිල වැඩි වුන වේගයට දිගටම බඩු මිල වැඩි වුනානම්, අද අපිට කන්න තියා හිඟාකන්නවත් ලැබෙන්නේ නැහැ. ඉහල ගිය බඩුමිල තාම තියෙනවා එ්ත් බඩුමිල ඉහළයාම නතරවෙලා තියෙනවා. ඒ නිසාමයි පවුල් ලක්ෂ විස්සකට අස්වැසුම ලබා දෙන්නේ.

සමෘද්ධිය වෙනුවෙන් බිලියන 60යි වෙන්කලේ. ඒත් අද බිලියන 200ක් වෙන් කරලා තියෙනවා. ඒ සමාජයේ අමාරුම අයට ජීවත් වෙන්න අවශ්‍ය අවකාශය හදන්නයි.  
රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින්ගේ වැටුපත් වැඩිවෙනවා. ඒ වගේම පුද්ගලික අංශයේ සේවකයාගේ වැටුපත් වැඩි කරන්න කියලා අපි ඉල්ලනවා. ඒත් අපි ගෘහ සේවිකාවගේ වැටුප් වැඩි කරන්න කියලා කාටද කියන්නේ?  ඒකට තැනක් නැහැ. ඒ නිසාමයි මේ වැඩපිලිවෙල හැදෙන්නේ.

රට දැන් තැනකට ඇවිල්ලා තියෙනවා. මේ නීති රීති වෙනස් වෙනවා. අණ පනත් විතරක් හැට හැත්තෑවක් වෙනස් වෙලා, මිනිස්සු ඉල්ලපු සිස්ටම් චේන්ජ් එක දැන් ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙනවා. ඒත් අපි එහිදී ජනප්‍රිය නොවන තීන්දුයි ගන්නේ. අපි දන්නවා ලයිට් බිල, වතුර බිල වැඩිවෙලා තියෙනවා. ඒත් අපි ඡන්ද ගැන හිතන්නේම නැතිවයි මේ තීන්දු ගන්නේ. මොකද අපි  අද ගැන නෙමෙයි රටේ අනාගතය ගැනයි හිතන්නේ. අමාරුම වෙලාවක ඉදලත් අපි අනාගතය ගැන හිතලා තීන්දු ගන්නේ මේ දේවල් වෙනස් කලයුතු නිසාමයි. අපි මේක වෙනස් කරගමු.

විදේශගත වෙන ශ්‍රමිකයන් විදින ගැටලු සම්බන්ධයේ පැමිණිලි කරන ගොඩාක් ක්‍රමවේද තියෙනවා. ඒත් ගෘහ සේවිකාවන් විදින දුක ගැන කවුරුවත් කතා කරන්නේ නැහැ.

ගොඩක් රාජ්‍ය නොවන සංවිධාන එළියට බැහැලා කෑගහනවා පිටරටවල ඉන්න අපේ ගෘහ සේවිකාවන්ට කරදර වෙනවා කියලා. ඒත් අපේ රටේ ඉන්න අය ගැන කිසිම සද්දයක් නැහැ. අවුරුදු ගාණක් ගෙවල්වල පඩි ගෙවන්නේ නැතිව තියාගෙන ඉදලා එළවලා දාන අවස්ථා තියෙනවා. මාසයට රුපියල් හය හත්දාහක් දීලා වහල් සේවය වගේ වැඩගන්න අවස්ථා ඕනෑ තරම් තියෙනවා.
කෑම ටික හරියට දෙන්නේ නැති තැන් ඕනෑතරම් තියෙනවා. ඒත් ඔබට හඬක් නැහැ. ඒ වගේම ඔබ හඬ ඇහෙන්නේ නැහැ. ඒ නිසාමයි හඬක් නැති ඔබ වෙනුවෙන්ම අපි මේ වැඩසටහන කරන්නේ.  අපිට මේ රටේ සියලුම වෘත්තීය ක්ෂේත්‍රවලට ගරුත්වය ලබා දීලා, හැමදෙනාම එකම මට්ටමකට ගේන්නයි අපි අවශ්‍ය.

පිට රටවල නැනී කෙනෙක් කියලා ගන්නවා. ඒ අය සමහර වෙලාවට වාහනයක් පදවගෙනයි එන්නේ. ඇවිල්ලා වැඩ ටික කරලා යනවා. අපි කියනවා පිට රටවල් වල තණකොල කපන කෙනත් වෙනත් ඉහළ වෘත්තයක් කරන කෙනත් එකම බාර් එකෙන් තමයි බොන්නේ, එකම කඩෙන් තමයි ඇඳුම් ගන්නනේ කියලා.
ඒත් අද අපිට එකම කඩෙන් ඇදුම් ගන්න පුළුවන්ද? එකම තැනට ඔබව ගන්නවාද? ඇයි ඒ? ඒකට හේතුව සමාජ විශමතාවයක් හදලා තිබීමයි. ඒක වෙනස් කරන්නයි අපි මේ උත්සහ කරන්නේ. ඔබට ඒ ගරුත්වය දෙන්න, ඔබට ඒ වටිනාකම ලබා දෙන්න, ඔබට ඒ සාරවත්භාවය ලබාදෙන්නයි අපි මේ කටයුතු කරන්නේ.

විවිධ වෘත්තීන් වල වැටුප් මට්ටම් වෙනස් වෙන්න පුළුවන් ඒත් අවම දෙවල් ආරක්ෂා කරලා දීලයි ඒවා විය යුත්තේ. අපිට ඔබේ ජීවිත සාරවත් කරන්නයි ඕනේ. එහෙම නැතිව කයියනායකලා විදිහට කතා කරලා විතරක් වැඩක් නැහැ. වැඩේ ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන්නම ඕනේ.
ඔබ වෙනුවෙන් අපි වැඩේ ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන්න සූදානම්. දැන් අපිට තියෙන්නේ ඔබෙන් අදහස් ගන්නයි.
ඒ වගේම අවුරුද්දකට සැරයක්, තුන්වන මට්ටමේ, දෙවන මට්ටමේ, ළමු මට්මේ කියලා ඔබව ශ්‍රේණිගත කරගන්න පුළුවන් නම් වටිනවා. උදාහරණයක් විදිහට උයන්න වගේම අනිත් සේරම පුළුවන් අයනම් ඒ අයට පළමු මට්මේ අය විදිහට සලකන ක්‍රමවේදයක් ගැනයි මම කියන්නේ. එතකොට ඒ මට්ටම් වලට අවම වැටුප් තීරණය කරන්නත් පුළුවන් වෙනවා.  ඒ වගේම ඔබට හැදුනුම්පතක් නිකුත්වෙනවා. එතකොට ගෙදරක වැඩ කරන්න ලයිසන් එකක්  තියෙනවා කියලා කියන්න පුළුවන්.  මේ බලපත්‍ර ක්‍රමය ඔබ විසින්ම හදුන්වා දෙනවා. එතකොට ඔබට අභිමානයක් තියෙනවා. හැබැයි මේ කිව්වේ මට හිතෙන විදිහ. ඔබ තමයි ඔබට වඩාත්ම ගැලපෙන ක්‍රමය තීරණය කළ යුත්තේ.

ඇමතිට එකයි, ලේකම්ට එක තැනයි, ව්‍යාපාරිකයාට එක තැනයි, ගෘහ සේවිකාව තව තැනකයි තියන්න බැහැ. අපි හැමෝගෙම වෘත්තිය එකයි. අපි හැමෝම අපේ ශ්‍රමය වෙහෙසලයි කටයුතු කරන්නේ. ඔබටත් ඒ සමාන ගරුත්වය තිබිය යුතුමයි.

Prof. Hudson McLean

The appointment of Representing Sri Lanka to Promote the Economy should be offered to Competent Sales Persons and should not be offered as Gifts to Boot-Lickers!

I have seen the Sri Lankan diplomats in many countries, who are only drowned in the froth of their Diplomatic position but totally incapable of conducting the main object of the job or position.

Take a lesson from the Singapore or British Diplomatic Missions.

They have defined Financial Targets and Time Lines on investment or related services.

Starting with the Air Marshalls and Brigadiers who are due to their Rank, incapable of selling or getting their hands dirty.

Cut the cocktail evenings and get down to work!

Time will show that the new Diplomats will not bring back any results to promote the main objects of their elevated status.

Military offices in my past experience are only trained to Give & Receive Orders.  Their basic innovative and imaginative skills are reduced to Zero.

The days when Tea, Rubber & Coconut are gone.

Garment trade should be a two-way opportunity.

The Garment manufacturers should try to create joint ventures and move part of the production process, with Sri Lankan labour to recipient nations to increase the profile.  This will reduce the import duties to make the final selling price favourable and maintain better relationship. Most important is that this will change the Label!  There are legal ways to overcome local labour laws!  —- IMAGINATION!—–

The Sun – Sea – Sand of the Pearl of Asia are old hat!

Today Sri Lanka needs foreign revenue in many different avenues.

Here I applaud DP Perera Education for being on the right track.  

Now these glorious Uniformed gentlemen with brass medals should take the next step to deploy the educated Sri Lanka youth in employment opportunities.

There are many opportunities in IT, Nursing, and Eldercare in the European Union, USA, UK, which offer i excess of US dollars 2500 per month.

Sri Lanka tourism should be boosted, not by Sun-Sea-Sand, but by 3000-year-old Cultural Values. 

Tourism should be re-defined!

Tourism should be targeted not only at the young but also at the Senior Citizens, on high pensions.  These pensioners with loads of spare time are eager to learn something new, such as Asian Culture, Buddhist Religious beliefs, Cookery, Food Culture, Art, History, Folk stories, Music, Ayurvedic health benefits, etc.

Special Tourist Programs promoting the above values should be a Top Priority.

Many of the Sri Lankan Tour promoters are still in the 1950s but have not realized that there are much better and more competitive options promoted to the same potential audience.

Hopefully the Prime Minister might look at other options to bring the much needed foreign currency!

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Geopolitical Economy Report

A geopolitical analysis of why the United States so strongly supports Israel: Economist Michael Hudson discusses with journalist Ben Norton.

Chandre Dharma-wardana

Credit: Global Justice Now (CC BY 2.0)

What chemicals or environmental exposures are likely to cause cancer? That’s a complex question with a wide variance in views across the scientific community. 

First, one needs to determine whether a substance or situation is likely to ever cause cancer. For instance, we know that drinking hot coffee or tea or any drink can increase the chance of esophageal cancer. In other words, they present what scientists call a hazard. 

Whether a hot coffee drinker is likely to get cancer — what scientists call risk — is a much different formulation. It depends on how many hot drinks a person consumes, every day, for many years. In other words, Risk = Hazard x Exposure. 

That appears straightforward, but journalists and even some scientists, botch that simple equation in their discussions of environmental exposures, particularly chemicals. That often leads to bizarre public policy debates over the potential danger of one chemical or another, which can lead to lousy regulatory decisions.

This problem is not an abstraction. It was only four years ago that Christopher Wild, then-head of a United Nations-affiliated research group known as the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), declared that breakfast bacon and cold cuts are carcinogenic, and that hamburgers and other red meat are probable” causes of cancer. The IARC classifications prompted some uncritical praise but mostly ridicule, and debunking by scores of scientists. 

IARC also shook up the agricultural industry when it declared that the world’s most popular herbicide— considered for decades to be both the most effective and among the safest to use weedkillers — was also a probably carcinogenic to humans” —  putting it in the same ‘danger’ category 2A, as red meat, hot drinks, being a barber or hairdresser, or working the nightshift — not very scary exposures. 

While environmental activists, journalists and social media shrugged off or mocked IARC’s classification of lamb chops and a visit to the beauty parlor as probably” dangerous, they literally exploded in horror when IARC issued a proclamation in 2015 that glyphosate — sold generically and by Monsanto (now Bayer) under the trademark name Roundup — posed an identical hazard. This headline is from the UK The Guardian:

The Group 2a classification ignited mass litigation in the United States against Monsanto that is still going on and could lead to a ban on glyphosate sales across the European Union and elsewhere.

How did the mainstream science community react? Initially with panic because literally all the regulatory and risk studies to that time had concluded that glyphosate did not pose any substantial cancer risk at all. Did they all get it wrong? That sets off a frenzied reassessment of glyphosate by 18 of the world’s premier regulatory and risk agencies. [Click on the bolded excerpts to take you to the document issued by the regulatory or research agency.]

The most recent one, released last summer by the European Food Safety Authority that upheld its former conclusion — the EFSA did not identify critical areas of concern,” finding the weedkiller unlikely to be genotoxic or to pose a carcinogenic threat” to humans, animals and the environment. All told, there have been 24 risk assessments of glyphosate over the past decade and not one concludes the weedkiller is a carcinogen.

As Health Canada wrote after two recent reviews after IARC made its hazard declaration: No pesticide regulatory authority in the world currently considers glyphosate to be a cancer risk to humans at the levels at which humans are currently exposed”.

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IARC and its impact

IARC, if you are not familiar with it, has become one of the most controversial health agencies in the world over the past decade precisely because of such controversial findings. It has a controversial history. It started as a research institute in the 1950s before affiliating with the World Health Organization. IARC was chartered to assess cancer hazards and has since passed judgement on 1035 chemicals or exposures.

[Ironically, an investigation by Reuters after IARC’s controversial 2015 classification found that the agency was poised to designate glyphosate as non-carcinogenic”— only the second of the 1036 substances it has reviewed over the decades to be so designated.  

Mysteriously and inexplicably, an 11th hour edit by the agency moved glyphosate into the probably carcinogenic” category — much to the glee of anti-biotechnology advocacy groups and predatory tort lawyers who soon cashed in on IARC’s re-classification. 

Christopher Portier, a key member of IARC’s review board at the time, became a consultant to the US-based Church of Scientology tort firm Baum Hedlund, which served as point litigator in the first three glyphosate court cases filed against Monsanto, in a partnership with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.]

IARC was again in the news in July when it announced that aspartame, found in many sugar-free chewing gums, Diet Coke and other products, is probably carcinogenic. The claim was widely circulated, in many cases uncritically, by the global media, and it was hyped incessantly by environmental activist groups, such as Environmental Working Group, with known ties to both IARC and Baum Hedlund.

Government researchers around the world reject IARC’s hazard finding as ludicrous, noting that an adult would have to consume between 12 and 36 cans of diet soda every day for the rest of her life to even hazard the longshot possibility of getting cancer. As recently as July, the European Food Safety Authority

But unfortunately, IARC’s classifications are no longer a joke, as EU member states are fighting an extended battle over whether to renew glyphosate’s year registration for another 10 years.

IARC has caused much harm by fueling eco-extremist organizations and activist scientists, whose pressures led to the collapse of governments and the devastation of thriving agricultural economies. Here I’d like to revisit the ongoing impact of IARC’s glyphosate finding so that history does not repeat itself in Europe.

When IARC released its probably carcinogenic to humans” finding on glyphosate, the green lobby knew it had been handed a devastating weapon beyond their wildest dreams. For the first time, an official-sounding agency classified glyphosate as potentially cancerous, even though all other regulatory agencies in the world have concluded the opposite.

Environmentalists supporting the European Green Deal, which proposes to reduce toxins in Europe, began amplifying marginal studies that found tiny amounts of glyphosate – a few parts per billion – in wine. Those are levels far below what any science agency believes could be harmful. (Ironically, IARC has classified wine and other types of alcohol as the most dangerous carcinogen humans can be exposed, Group 1, so focusing on the ppb of safe glyphosate in ‘dangerous’ wine is scientifically ridiculous.)

Fear still grips the public and regulators, and sound toxicological science on glyphosate produced by EPA and other leading regulatory agencies has become a victim of activist efforts. A computer scientist turned amateur epidemiologist named Stephanie Seneff churned out scientific” papers claiming that practically every noncommunicable disease could be related to glyphosate’s presence in the food chain. In one of her more ridiculous studies”, Seneff and a colleague drew up laughable correlation figures blaming the increased use of glyphosate on autism.

Mocking her, scientists posted correlation charts showing the link” between increased consumption of organic foods and autism.

Seneff’s research” is promoted by Dr. Joseph Mercola and other international pseudoscience gurus” with millions of social media followers. The glyphosate hysteria even tripped up the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The AAAS bestowed its 2019 Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility to two crank Sir Lankan scientists, Drs. Sarath Gunatilkake and Channa Jayasumana, who authored two much-ridiculed papers linking glyphosate to chronic kidney disease. The announcement of the award touched off a backlash among AAAS members, and it was rescinded.

Public as victims and a new reality

The biggest victims of IARC’s glyphosate misinformation bombs have been the countries banning or limiting glyphosate use. Inspired by the eventually-rescinded AAAS award, and led by eco-extremist ideologues such as Vandana Shiva, activists duped Sri Lanka’s leaders into going in sync with nature” by adopting an all-in organic policy. Then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa banned 100% of agrochemicals, even mineral fertilizers. 

This pleased then-Prince Charles and other green ideologues at the 2021 Glasgow Climate Summit, but it nearly destroyed the tiny island nation. Yields plummeted in this once-flourishing agricultural sector, thanks to rampant weed infestations and a lack of nutrients. As the New York Times wrote, Sri Lanka took a ”sudden and disastrous turn toward organic farming”.

Within a year, the country could not adequately feed itself. The cost of food exploded, the country starved, and Rajapaksa had to flee his own nation  after a farmers’ revolt blew into a full-scale mass uprising that demanded his exit.

It appears EU leaders are taking note of Sri Lanka’s lessons spurred by the Ukraine war, which has transformed the views of many of its politicians. In August, Frans Timmermans, European Union commissioner for the European Green Deal, submitted his resignation as Member of the European Commission. The Dutch farmers’ party has taken control of the Dutch senate in response to Green Deal efforts to buy out livestock farmers. And, President Macron’s team no longer talks of banning glyphosate. 

Organic agriculture with its emphasis on composting, manual weeding and tilling of soils, and its rejection of genetic engineering techniques, cannot hope to address global farming challenges.

The impact of the Ukraine-Russia War has helped show that Europe’s food supply is fragile. Europe’s Zeitenwende” or epochal turn” from its back to nature” dreams has started, but it’s incomplete unless it eschews agricultural policies rooted in anti-science hogwash. It must reject elitist and eco-extremist pseudo-solutions that have negatively influenced EU policymaking.

Chandre Dharma-wardana, a scientist with a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, currently works for the National Research Council of Canada and the Université de Montréal. 

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Destruction in Gaza

Washington, November 16: US public support for Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza is eroding and most Americans think Israel should call a ceasefire to a conflict that has ballooned into a humanitarian crisis, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll that was completed on Tuesday.

Some 68% of respondents said they agreed with a statement that Israel should call a ceasefire and try to negotiate.”

About three-quarters of Democrats and half of Republicans in the poll supported the idea of a ceasefire, putting them at odds with Joe Biden, who has rebuffed calls from Arab leaders, including Palestinians, to pressure Israel into a ceasefire.

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While most moderate Democrats in Congress have long supported military assistance to Israel, some progressives in Biden’s own party have started to question whether there should be greater scrutiny as well as conditions attached to such aid.

In a potentially worrisome sign for Israel, just 31% of poll respondents said they supported sending Israel weapons, while 43% opposed the idea. The rest said they were unsure. Support for sending Israel weapons was strongest among Republicans, while roughly half of Democrats were opposed.

By comparison, 41% of people answering the poll said they backed sending weapons to Ukraine in its fight against a nearly 21-month-old Russian invasion, compared to 32% who were opposed and the rest unsure. When it came to Ukraine, support for sending weapons was stronger among Democrats.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online and nationwide, gathering responses from 1,006 US adults.

Israel has long counted on the US, its most powerful ally, for billions of dollars a year in military aid and international diplomatic support. An erosion of US public support could be a worrisome sign for the Middle Eastern country, which faces not only Hamas militants in Gaza but the Hezbollah Islamist movement in Lebanon and has conducted a long-running shadow war” with Iran, its regional arch-foe.

The drop in US support, seen in the new poll among both Democrats and Republicans and especially among older respondents, follows weeks of heavy Israeli bombardment and ground combat against Hamas in Gaza in retaliation for a 7 October rampage by the Islamist militants in southern Israel. About 1,200 people were killed and around 240 taken hostage.

Since then, more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed, around 40% of them children, in Israel’s assault, according to counts by health officials in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

The Gaza crisis has sparked an international outcry that has focused in recent days on the collapsing medical infrastructure in the crowded coastal enclave. Palestinians trapped inside Gaza’s biggest hospital were digging a mass grave on Tuesday to bury patients who died under Israeli encirclement.

The Biden administration instead has urged Israel to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties, something Israel says it is doing.

Israel has so far rejected any talk of implementing longer pauses or a ceasefire, saying Hamas would only use that time to regroup and harden its positions.

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

2020 වසරේ හොඳම පසුබිම් ගායිකාව ලෙස ආචාර්ය නන්දා මාලනි මහත්මිය ජනාධිපති සම්මානයෙන් පිදුම් ලැබූවාය.

ඒ කොළඹ නෙළුම් පොකුණ රඟහලේ පැවැති 2023 ජනාධිපති සිනමා සම්මාන ප්‍රදානෝත්සවයේදී ය.

ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා වේදිකාවෙන් බැස ප්‍රේක්ෂකාගාරයේ සිටි නන්දා මාලනි මහත්මිය සිටි ස්ථානයටම ගොස් එම සම්මානය පිරිනැමීමට කටයුතු කළේය.

පසුගිය වසරේ ගාලුමුවදොර ඇතිවූ අරගලයේ දීද නන්දා මාලනිය මහත්මිය එම ස්ථානයට ගොස් එයට ප‍්‍රමුඛ සහයෝගයක්ද ලබා දුන්නාය.

 By YOHAN PERERA Courtesy The Daily Mirror

COLOMBO (Daily Mirror) Sri Lanka’s cricket crisis has taken a chaotic turn with some members of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) and its chairman Ranjith Bandara accusing each other of mishandling the probe on Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).

Some COPE members highlighted that Prof. Bandara should be removed from the chairmanship of the committee temporarily until the probe on SLC is completed.

Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa said Prof. Bandara acted as if he had been bought over by the SLC. 

The COPE chairman, using hand signals, advised SLC members not to answer questions raised by MPs at Tuesday’s meeting.  This is clearly visible in the videos that are being circulated over social media,” Premadasa said.

SJB MP Hesha Vithanage said Prof. Bandara should not be allowed to chair the future probes which COPE is slated to carry out on SLC during the coming days.

COPE has summoned SLC on November 24, 27 and 28. We request that Prof. Bandara is removed temporarily and an acting chairman be appointed,” he said.  

MP S.M. Marikar said he and some other members of COPE do not want to participate in any probes on SLC with Professor Bandara at the chair.

MP Chaminda Wijesiri accused Professor Bandara of violating the privileges of COPE members. 

The COPE Chairman could be dealt with under Section 18 of the Privileges Act,” he said.

MP Premanath Dollawatta also wanted the COPE Chairman out temporarily.

Prof. Bandara, in response, accused Opposition members of trying to politicise the probe. 

COPE is expected to be independent as much as possible. However, there was a planned effort by the Opposition members to politicize the probe on SLC,” he said.

I put my fingers on my lips and asked the opposition MPs  to be quiet as many members were speaking at the same time,” he added.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana did not give any ruling with regard to the matter.

Courtesy Hiru News

In a startling revelation, serious concerns have emerged about the potential conflict of interest involving the present COPE Chairman, Prof. Ranjith Bandara, who has reportedly been retained by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) as a consultant for the Kandy Cricket Campus project.

According to circulated minutes, Prof. Ranjith Bandara has also agreed with the SLC president to convert the “Kandy Cricket Campus Project” to a project titled “Cricket extending to sports administration and facilities” without any reference to Kandy.

These revelations have sparked criticisms and questions about a potential conflict of interest, especially given Prof. Bandara’s role as the COPE Chairman, tasked with overseeing public enterprises and ensuring accountability. Especially since he has failed to disclose his close association with SLC and the SLC president.

Officials from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) were called to testify before the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) yesterday on November 14.

Today (15) in Parliament, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, along with other parliamentarians, severely criticized Prof. Bandara’s conduct during the meeting as COPE Chairman. They accused him of deliberate biased actions and inability to conduct and impartial inquiry while tacitly supporting SLC, raising concerns about whether he had been influenced or compromised. They alleged that he distracted from the main accusations. The opposition leader asked whether has was also bought over by SLC suggesting possible collusion.

In response to the criticisms, Prof. Ranjith Bandara defended his actions, stating that he was attempting to bring order to the meeting when several members were asking questions simultaneously.

However, emerging information indicates that he has been serving as a consultant for SLC in 2018, raising questions about a potential conflict of interest that was not disclosed. Various videos circulating with regard to the COPE meeting also contain footage where the Chairman body language suggest possible tacit collusion, according to the allegations.

The Opposition Leader’s query about whether Prof. Bandara had been influenced or compromised adds another layer of concern regarding the integrity of professionals in parliamentary roles. It is strange that Prof. Bandara did not think that it was necessary to disclose the conflict of interest.

When the conduct of professionals in parliament stoops below all accepted norms do we have any hope of expecting integrity and professionalism from the people’s representative to seek justice and to address corruption.

https://www.hirunews.lk/english/354043/revelation-cope-chairman-inquiring-into-slc-is-also-a-consultant-for-slc-kandy-project

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana Courtesy The Island

Roshan Ranasinghe

It was so heart-warming to listen to the no-holds-barred speech of the Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe; a very rare occurrence nowadays! As commented in the editorial Cheers for Maxwell and Roshan” (The Island, 9 November), it was a stellar performance indeed. Having sunk to the bottom with the declared bankruptcy, as things were improving, most of us felt that things could not get any worse but were proved wrong by the antics of our cricket board and cricketers. Fortunately, Roshan Ranasinghe’s firm stand brought a ray of hope, more so because there seemed to be a consensus across the floor of the House to stand against corruption. Whether it will last, nobody knows

Most sports are no longer what they used to be. True, in sport there are winners and losers but what has been embarrassing in the case of Sri Lanka is the enormity of losses suffered by our cricketers recently.

The excuses trotted out by the SLC administration when the Auditor General’s report was released, highlighting unbelievable irregularities in finances, were laughable. First, SLC claimed that the AG had no authority. Then it claimed that it was not a government department or a corporation. Finally, it claimed that it was a charity. It is a sad reflection on those occupying high positions that they failed to understand that even a charity is held accountable!

Worse still was the response of the government. Although one can argue against some chosen by the Minister for the Interim Committee, it was a bold step which had the universal endorsement of cricket lovers.

No sooner had the gazette been issued than President Ranil Wickremesinghe expressed his displeasure. A cabinet subcommittee was soon appointed to investigate into the misdeeds of SLC as well as the gazette notification! As if by magic, a new constitution for SLC and the suggestion for a board of directors appeared!

Ranil, who once campaigned for the abolition of the executive presidency, maybe because he thought he would never be president, having become president under fortuitous circumstances, now seems to be behaving as a dictatorial president.

Ranil has not found fault with Roshan Ranasinghe for exceeding authority but has faulted the latter for not informing him! Perhaps, it may have been prudent for the minister to appraise the President of his intentions but studying carefully the minister’s statement to the Parliament, one can figure out why he did not do so.

In a speech lasting almost an hour, Ranasinghe placed before the House the web of corruption that seems to be entangling our national sport. He made some shocking revelations using parliamentary privilege. He said he intended to protect the President and asked the latter to choose between him and Shammi.

Roshan does not seem to mind being sacked; after all, he has more to gain than to lose! Overnight he will become a hero. It is totally different for Ranil! If he does not sack Roshan, after such a damning speech, Ranil would be considered weak and other ministers may follow suit. If he sacks Roshan, he will make a mockery of his commitment to fighting corruption.

Although Ranasinghe has placed Ranil in a no-win situation, it is very likely that Ranil will use a stock excuse like being misinformed, and would cleanse SLC by different means, not through the Interim administration. Whatever the way, if SLC is rid of parasites we can breathe a sigh of relief and Ranasinghe can claim credit.

Congratulations, Minister Ranasinghe for standing up to crooks! Do hope others will follow suit and this will be a new beginning!

Courtesy Adaderana

The targets laid out in Sri Lanka’s budget for 2024 will be challenging to meet, even with the economic recovery that we expect to continue next year, says Fitch Ratings. 

The fiscal deficit is set to be wider than our current forecast of 7.1% of GDP in 2024 in light of the new data, even after excluding bank recapitalisation costs, and the revenue/GDP ratio will be lower than we had assumed.

The government is targeting a budget deficit of 9.1% of GDP in 2024, wider than a revised estimate of 8.5% in 2023. However, without bank recapitalisation costs, the deficit in 2024 would be a narrower 7.6% of GDP. Excluding recapitalisation costs, the budget targets a primary surplus of 0.8% of GDP in 2024, against a deficit of 0.7% in 2023. However, including recapitalisation costs pushes the 2024 primary deficit target to 0.6% of GDP.

The primary surplus goal for 2024, excluding bank recapitalisation, is broadly in line with the 0.8% of GDP projected by the IMF in March when it approved Sri Lanka’s USD3 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF). We also see the revenue target as relatively aligned. However, the government’s expenditure target for 2024, at 22.2% of GDP, is somewhat higher than the 19.7% the IMF had envisioned and well above the revised budget estimate of 18.7% for 2023.

The release of the next tranche of EFF financing, worth around USD330 million, will depend partly on the IMF’s assessment of Sri Lanka’s progress in securing financing assurances from official creditors. Fitch believes there has been some progress since March, but the timeline for a restructuring deal with official creditors remains unclear.

Fitch believes there are significant risks to the government’s revenue goal for 2024. Sri Lanka has a record of fiscal slippage, and revenue collection fell 29% short of target over 9M23. The authorities aim to raise revenue by almost 45% in 2024. This will be aided by a planned 3pp increase in the value-added tax to 18%, but the boost to revenue from inflation is set to weaken in 2024. We project consumer prices will rise by 8.7% on average in 2024, compared with 22.1% in 2023. The lift from economic growth, which Fitch projects at 3.3% in 2024, will also be modest.

Downside risks to revenue could be offset by lower-than-budgeted spending. We think the presidential election in late 2024 will incentivise the government to keep to its spending plans, which include a 14% increase in spending on salaries and wages. Nevertheless, if revenue falls short, there may be some room to trim capital expenditure, which amounts to almost 20% of total planned spending and is budgeted to rise 55% in 2024, excluding bank recapitalisation.

The government’s efforts to implement governance reform after a recent diagnostic study by the IMF may also support revenue collection. The budget proposes to establish a new revenue authority under the Ministry of Finance to improve tax collection, and a new investment law will look to establish a National Economic Commission to promote investment. However, it will take time to assess these bodies’ effectiveness.

Fitch rates Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘RD’ (Restricted Default). We may move the IDR out of ‘RD’ upon the sovereign’s completion of a commercial debt restructuring that we judge to have normalised the relationship with the international financial community. Sri Lanka’s post-default rating would depend upon our assessment of its credit profile. Fitch upgraded Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Local-Currency IDR to ‘CCC-’ in September, reflecting the completion of the local-currency portion of Sri Lanka’s domestic debt optimisation plan.

Source – Fitch Ratings

– Agencies 

By Sanjeewa Jayaweera Courtesy The Island

Until 1977, when Kerry Packer set up the World Series Cricket (WSC) tournament, Australia and England took turns to hold the mantle of being the world’s top test-playing team; during this period, the West Indies did, on occasions, challenge the order of supremacy but were never able to be consistently good. The Indians and Pakistanis were competitive when playing at home but could not defeat the Australians in Australia. All that changed in 1979 when the Australian and English Boards and the ICC made peace with Kerry Packer.

The West Indies team that emerged post the WSC were to dominate world cricket for nearly a decade and a half as they possessed a conveyor belt of fast bowlers and some brilliant batsmen. When playing in the WSC tournament, the West Indies team under Sir Clive Lloyd embraced all the traits required to be at the top of their game—attributes such as hard work, supreme fitness and playing as a team were added to their natural talent. They were an irresistible force that decimated opposition teams at home and away.

The Reasons for the Demise of West Indies Cricket

However, from around 1995, West Indies cricket has gone from bad to worse to pathetic and suffered the ultimate ignominy of not qualifying for the 50 overs World Cup in India that is currently being played. Initially, the decline was accepted and explained as a consequence of the retirement of some great players. For sure, all teams go through this cycle when several top performers retire more or less at the same time, and the newcomers need time to gain experience and confidence.

Despite the impatience of the supporters, it is generally accepted that the team will not perform at the same level during this rebuilding period. However, in the case of West Indies, even after nearly three decades of waiting, the team is a shadow of what it used to be, unable to compete with most other teams, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. The team that produced some of the world’s best batsmen and bowlers are now struggling to beat even the minnows.

The purpose of highlighting the decline in West Indies cricket and its inability to regain its former glory days is to understand whether Sri Lanka cricket, too, is afflicted with the same malaise. Whilst our team never dominated the world stage as the West Indies did, it is not incorrect to say that we could hold our own, particularly when playing at home in both test and limited-overs cricket. We were also successful and competitive in limited-overs cricket, even when playing overseas, and our record at the 50-over World Cup tournaments between 1996 and 2011 (except 1999) was excellent. Even in the T20 format, we were champions once and runners-up twice.

During this era, between 1996 and 2015, Sri Lanka produced several outstanding cricketers who could have walked into any other team. What was particularly significant and impressive was that they were excellent in both the test and limited over formats. They were masters of their craft, could consistently compete at the highest level, and were household names even overseas.

In the case of the West Indies, the following have been identified as reasons for the decline in their performance.

· · Loss of interest and passion among the younger generation, who prefer other sports or entertainment

· Lack of unity and cohesion among the players from different islands and territoriesUndoubtedly, some of the above also contribute to the decline of Sri Lankan cricket.

Murali Blames the Cricketers and Not the Coaches

I recently watched a video interview of Murali, which was actually televised about four years ago. He was absolutely adamant that Sri Lanka cricket would not be as successful as in the previous 20 years and that the fault lay with the players and not the coaching staff. He said that he could not teach a bowler to bowl the doosra” nor for Sangakkara to teach a player how to bat other than help them with the mental side of the game.

I believe he meant that the players need to constantly work hard by practising to develop their game. Murali and Sanga would have undoubtedly spent countless hours perfecting their game. Despite the type of financial rewards on offer for the current crop of cricketers, there is a question mark whether most of them want to do the hard yards to be consistently excellent in their game.

Fitness and Kohli’s Example

When one considers how often our fast bowlers are injured, there is a valid question to pose on their commitment towards fitness. A team without their best fast bowlers should not expect to perform well, or when a bowler breaks down after bowling a few overs, the team is disadvantaged during the match.

One only needs to watch some of the videos on Virat Kohli to understand the endless hours he works out in the gym, the strict diet he adheres to, and hours of practice he puts in the nets to fine-tune his game. His fitness is a major contributory factor in him being a master of the chase in one-day matches where, for the most part, he eliminates the risky boundary shots as he is more than prepared to run the singles, the two and the threes until the finishing line is close. No wonder he has been a top player for over a decade.

The physique of Charitha Asalanka, a promising batsman, indicates that he needs to lose several kilos. I remember being enthralled by Avishka Fernando’s batting at the 2019 World Cup but also lamenting how overweight he was. Since then, he has not been a permanent national team member because of his excess weight. As to why players as young as Aslanka and Avishka struggle with their weight and fitness is a concern, and does it reflect the lack of desire to set high standards for themselves?

Humiliated by Pakistan at Home and Lessons not learnt

Not many gave much importance when our test team was humiliated by Pakistan in July 2023. We lost the test match by innings and 220 runs. Our bowlers could claim only four wickets whilst conceding over 550 runs, whilst, on the same docile pitch, our batters were bowled out in both innings for scores less than 200. That this demoralizing defeat suffered when playing at home should not have been forgotten. At least to me, the loss reflected the depths to which our cricket had sunk. As previously mentioned, in most teams, the core of the test batting lineup also makes up the core of the limited-overs batting, at least in the 50 overs game.

Atrocious Fielding and Do We Need a Consultant Coach

Our fielding has long been atrocious. We have not seen any improvement and have the worst record in terms of the number of catches dropped by a team in the World Cup. Many of the dropped catches have cost the team plenty of runs and have significantly contributed to some of the losses. Even our ground fielding is embarrassing, with players constantly fumbling and diving over.

Fielding requires good anticipation and athleticism, both of which are lacking among our players. In my view, it is a facet of the game that requires considerable practice where talent is not a prerequisite, and our poor performance can only be attributed to a lack of hard work.

The coaching staff have come in for severe criticism. Even the great Mahela Jayawardena has not been spared. The reason why the team requires a Head Coach and Consultant coach is inexplicable. As Murali stated, there is a limit to what a coach could achieve with international cricketers. In that context, a question needs to be posed on why there is so many support staff, although most teams seem to have embraced the concept of having specialized coaches for batting, bowling and fielding in addition to the Head Coach.

A Stink at the Sri Lanka Cricket Board

Ever since Ana Punchihewa was unceremoniously deposed soon after we won the World Cup in 1996, a group of people have got themselves elected to the Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) through a less-than-desirable election process. It would not be wrong to say that most have not been interested in developing Sri Lanka cricket and have used their positions for financial gain and perks.

We certainly need to clean the stables and ensure that persons of proven integrity are appointed to SLC. It would be necessary to have a combination of former cricketers like Mahanama, Sangakkara, Mahela, Vass and a few good administrators from the private sector to be part of the Board.

We must ensure that the Minister of Sport (whoever it may be) has no authority over SLC. It is absolutely ludicrous that the Minister’s approval is needed to select players. It is quite amusing that 225 members of parliament have allocated a day to debate the current state of affairs of the SLC and propose remedial action when most of them have overseen the nation’s economic collapse over several decades. Talk about people throwing stones from glass houses.

Courtesy Ceylon Today

Among all the things the environmentally-conscious superhero, Chairman of the Central Environmental Authority, was supposed to protect, his bank account was not one of them.

He was caught red-handed in a dramatic arrest last week when he traded his green cape for what would have been some big bucks (and greener’ pastures) as he was accepting a bribe to the tune of Rs 10 million in return for illegally facilitating a permit for an individual.

The Chairman, who was arrested along with two others, had promised to facilitate an environmental clearance permit for refining the discarded fuel removed from ships. Fortunately, the businessman seeking an annual environmental licence for the project reported the shady deal to the Justice Minister and brought the whole matter to light.

Moreover, the CEA Chairman is said to have allegedly demanded seven million rupees initially, to issue the licence before adding a few more millions to the sum he was demanding when the businessman delayed bribing him. According to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, the other two suspects were arrested for aiding and abetting –  perhaps what he calls being eco-friendly – the Chairman.

Isn’t it quite ironic that he was calling for efforts to clean up the environment when he is a pollutant himself? What is unfortunate is, that such news of corrupt State officials is not surprising anymore and is almost expected. Every other day we hear some news or other to suggest or indicate how corrupt State officials are and the incredibly pathetic levels they go to, to ensure they exploit their positions and connections of power. Imagine the extremely sad situation our country is in when even those who are entrusted with safeguarding the environment, only look to, by hook or by crook, financially safeguard themselves.

This again boils down to why our system on the whole is failing so badly and why political appointments further jeopardise our future. This incident also highlights, once again, that such appointments will only disappoint the public because finding officials who truly serve with integrity is like finding a needle in a haystack. More often than not, political appointees end up doing no good to anyone and engage in many under-the-table deals to, of course, only benefit themselves and their cronies. Thus, inefficiency and corruption are inevitable in the departments they head. Moreover, the frequent changes in political leadership are bound to destabilise any sense of stability and continuity in policy implementation which endangers and nullifies work, time and money previously put into policy research and government initiatives.

No surprise, the public services in Sri Lanka are in an atrocious state of affairs because of officials like the Chairman in question. The public can hardly get anything done with due procedure in a reasonable time because officials down to the grassroots such as the Grama Niladhari also look to make money, even if it is in a few hundred rupees, just to carry out their job – nothing more.

Can you blame the public who resort to pulling strings to get a job done in a government institution because they just can’t seem to be successful after spending days and weeks in government offices being bounced around from department to department by competent workers, who it turns out, have no method to their madness! In the end, you’ve just wasted valuable hours of your life you’ll never get back for a job that is eventually magically done, without exaggeration, in five minutes and one phone call. 

Government decisions, wrong policymakers, corrupt institutions, unscrupulous officials, eroded public trust in government institutions and the present and future of the country, all come to a bottleneck – which further boils down to why we don’t feel safe in our own country. And that’s why it is unfair for the government to raise eyebrows and throw shade at the public who chose to leave seeking better opportunities elsewhere because they are not being served with all fairness. However, we will give it to you for holding these individuals accountable for their actions because, as we all have seen, it is not the easiest to hold individuals accountable in this land and sometimes it seems too much to ask even for heinous crimes committed – but in the bigger picture, there is so much to do and so little time.

චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි 

ගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමණි, ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමණි, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රිවරුණි,

, ස්වයංව නැගීසිටීමට වෙරදරණ, ජේෂ්ඨ පුරවැසියන්ගේ ගැටළු වලට සාධාරණ පිලියමක් ලබාදෙන්න. .
ජීවිතයේ අවසාන භාගයේ දිවි ගමන ගෙවන ජේෂ්ඨ පුරවැසියා,වර්තමාන සමාජක්‍රමය තුල ඉතා අසීරු තත්වයකට ඇද වැටෙමින් සිටින බවත්, ඔවුන් සම්බන්ධව කිසිවෙකුගේ අවධානය යොමු නොවන බවත් ඔවුන්ගේ මතය වී ඇත.

එදා දුර දර්ශිව සිතා බලා සිය සැන්දෑ දිවිය නිදහසේ ගෙවීමේ අරමුණින් මුදල් එකතු කොට රාජ්‍ය බැංකුවලත්, පෞද්ගලික බැංකුවලත් ස්ථාවර ගිණුම් ආරම්භකර ඉන් ලැබෙන පොලියෙන්, දෛනික කටයුතු සිදුකරගෙන ගිය ඒ ජේෂ්ඨ පුරවැසියන්ට, එදා 18% පොලියක් ලබාදුන් අතර අද එය 9% ක පොලි අනුපාතයක් සේ ගෙවීම නිසා,ඔවුන්ගේ ආදායම හරි අඩකින් කප්පාදු කර ඇති බව ඔබට පැහැදිලිවෙනු ඇත.

මේ ජේෂ්ඨ පුරවැසියා යනු අතීත ශ්‍රී ලංකාව අභිවෘද්ධිය සඳහා කටයුතු කල, වර්තමාන ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ අභිවෘධිය වෙනුවෙන් කටයුතු කරන පරපුරේ මව්පියන් වන අතර, ඔවුන් මේ සැන්දෑ කාලය තුලදී, මේ රටේ අනාගත පරපුර වෙන සිය මුනුබුරු මිනිබිරියන්ට රැකවරණය ලබා දෙමින් වර්තමාන පරපුරට සිය කාර්යන් නිදහසේ කරගෙන යාමට ඉඩ සැලසීමද මේ රටේ සංවර්ධනය වෙනුවෙන් ඉටුකරන කාර්යේම එක කොටසකි.

එබැවින්, අතීතයේදී රටේ සංවර්ධනයට දායකවූ, වර්තමානයේ ජාතික සංවර්ධනය උදෙසා පරපුරක් නිර්මාණය කර, ඒ කටයුතු කරගෙන යන වර්තමානයට ඉඩකඩ සලසමින් අනාගත පරපුරද සුරකමින් ගොඩනගන මේ ජේෂ්ඨ පුරවැසියන්ගේ ස්ථාවර තැන්පත් මුදල්  සඳහා ලබාදෙන, 18% සිට 9% දක්වාවූ අගයකට අඩුකළ ඒ පොලිය 21%ක අගයක් දක්වා ඉහල දමන ලෙස ගෞරවයෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිමු.

ස්තුතියි. .

Prime Minister’s Media Division

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena asked the Sri Lankan envoys to focus mainly on economic diplomacy as the country needs the cooperation of other countries for rapid economic progress of the country.
Addressing the 10 newly appointed Sri Lankan envoys at the Temple Trees today (Nov 13), he urged them to showcase Sri Lanka’s ability to interact with the rest of the world, take new initiatives to attract investments and joint ventures.
Our focus is to increase trade and investments. While engaging with host governments and premier business houses, leading investors and chambers of commerce and industry, you have to promote Sri Lanka as an attractive destination, not merely as a tourist destination but mainly as a place suitable for investment and trade, he said.
Sri Lanka can rapidly grow its own economy by closely engaging with other nations. It is also a pragmatic response to the shift in the world economy towards Asia, particularly the economic rise of China, India, and ASEAN,” he said.
The Prime Minister advised new envoys to interact with Sri Lankan expatriate organizations in host countries and important friends of Sri Lanka in those countries to build new network to promote bilateral ties. He stressed the need for strengthening ties with the Spanish speaking world, especially Latin American countries through accredited ambassadors of those countries.
The newly appointed Heads of Mission are Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne (Pakistan), Air Marshal Sudharshan Pathirana (Nepal), former Foreign Secretary Kshenuka Senewiratne (India), Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne (Cuba), Satyajit Rodrigo (Italy), Madurika Weninger (Egypt), Dharamapala Weerakkody (Bangladesh), Senerath Dissanayake (Singapore) and Chandana Weerasena (Belgium and the European Union). New High Commissioner to UK, Rohitha Bogollagama could not attend due to prior engagement,
MP Yadamini Gunawardena, Secretary to the President Anura Dissanayake, Advisor Sugeeswara Senadhira, Additional Secretary of Foreign Ministry Mohammad Jauhar and Director General Wijayanthi Edirisinghe were also present during the meeting.

Ministry of Defence  – Media Centre

•     The procession of the Sacred Omniscient Relics of Deegawapiya Stupa and the Crest-Gem to the ancient Buddhist shrines in Kirama, Mulkirigala, Kasagala, Kataragama, Tissamaharama and Lunugamwehera.

The relics unearthed from the Deegawapiya site during the excavations and the Crest-Gem which are in exposition around the island to provide the devotees with an opportunity to pay their homage were brought to the ancient Buddhist shrines in the Ruhuna area.

The public veneration of the Sacred Omniscient Relics of Deegawapiya Stupa and the Crest-Gem commenced from Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya on November 30, 2023 coinciding with Nikini full moon poya day and it has been scheduled for the 150-day-long exposition for veneration of the island-wide devotees.

‘Deegawapiya’ graced by the Lord Buddha is renowned as one of the sacred ancient religious sites among the sixteen places of worship of the Buddhist devotees and the mega Stupa was built by King Saddhatissa, by depositing precious ‘Nail Relics’ of Lord Buddha. The Deegawapiya Stupa had been damaged due to various foreign invasions in the past and therefore, restoration works of the Stupa are presently underway to bring it back to its former glory.

Arrangements have been made for the exposition of these revered articles at the Siththam Gallena Rajamaha Viharaya, Kirama from November 15 morning to 17 morning, at Mulkirigala Rajamaha Viharaya from 17 to 18 evening, at Kasagala Rajamaha Viharaya from the evening on 18 to the morning on 21, at Katharagama Kiriwehera from morning on 21 to morning on 24, at Thissamaharama Viharaya from morning on 24 to morning on 27 and at Lunugamvehera Ancient Temple from morning on 27 to morning on 30. Hence, the devotees have the opportunity to support this meritorious act by making financial contributions to the restoration project while worshipping the Sacred Omniscient Relics and Crest-Gem of the Deegawapiya Stupa.

The restoration work is funded by the ‘Deegawapiya Aruna’ Fund which is generously supported by philanthropists. Your generous donations can be credited to the ‘Deegawapiya Aruna’ account at Bank of Ceylon, Taprobane Branch account number – 86860000. Further, devotees can contribute to the Deegawapiya restoration by paying Rs. 200.00 for a brick and Rs.1200.00 to complete cubic feet of the Stupa.

Ministry of Defence  – Media Centre

Captain Anand Mukundan who joined the mission as Defence Adviser (DA) to the High Commission of India in Sri Lanka, called on the Defence Secretary General Kamal Gunaratne at the Defence Ministry in Sri Jayawardenepura, Kotte today (Nov 14).

Gen. Gunaratne warmly received the newly appointed DA on arrival and held a cordial discussion on matters that were mainly focused on a bilateral nature. On this occasion, the Defence Secretary extended his warm wishes to Capt. Mukundan on his recent appointment.

Military Liaison Officer of the Defence Ministry, Maj. Gen. Dhammika Welagedara was also present at the occasion.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

COLOMBO (Daily Mirror) – The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) rebuked Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for following weak processes in performing its activities.

It was highlighted that these weak processes had led to the current crisis in cricket.

COPE Chairman Ranjith Bandara made this observation after SLC was probed by the committee. 

MP Bandara made this declaration several times during the probe.

It was revealed that SLC officials have visited Australia to view the T20 World Cup matches without proper approval by the Minister in charge of sports. It was revealed by COPE Member Dayasiri Jayasekera during the meeting that the Ministry secretary has no right to approve the SLC officials visit to Australia.

Accordingly, it was decided to call former Secretary of Sports Amal Harsha de Silva before the COPE as the approval had been given by him.

SLC Chairman Shammi Silva accepted that some persons who were taken on the Australian tour were not his relatives.

SLC also accepted that a senior DIG was appointed as an advisor but no payments had been made. 

We did hire a DIG but we did not make any payments to him as he declined the offer,” the SLC Chairman said. 

However MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake said the situation is questionable as the DIG has declined the offer after a payment had been made.

The performance of the medical panel which attends to players was also questioned by COPE member Jayasekera who said injury of one player had been persistent for seven years and the panel had failed to attend to it. He then wanted chairman of the Selection Committee Promodaya Wickremesinghe to comment on the matter.

Wickramasinghe therefore accepted that injuries suffered by the players had led to the recent debacle at the World Cup this year. 

We have experts in various spheres of medicine in our medical panel,” SLC CEO Ashley de Silva replied.

COPE will summon SLC for three more days for a continuous probe starting from November 24 2023.

By YOHAN PERERA Courtesy The Daily Mirror

COLOMBO (Daily Mirror) – Those who are not fit to be MPs can be removed once the proposed Parliament Standards Bill is enacted, Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said yesterday.

The Minister came up with this remark after arguments flared up in the House after SJB MP Chaminda Wijesiri raised a privilege issue on an allegation against him by MP Samanpriya Herath on an earlier date.

We will present the Standard Bill to Parliament soon, but before that Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardene will speak to party leaders on this. The Prime Minister will talk to the party leaders on the Bill and will make necessary amendments to it,” the Minister said.

Also courts have declared that the law which existed during the time of Lord Soulbury and its provisions for the expulsion of any MP from the House are still in force,” he added.

MP Wijesiri who raised the privilege issue said an indictment was issued against him for an assault.

“MP Hearth talked about an assault case but that was a case of political victimization. However, I must say that MP Herath had rented the MPs quarters given to him from the Madiwela MPs quarters. Also he said MP Hearth had entered a poultry farm which does not belong to him and had eaten the birds,” he said.

Prove your allegations. They are nothing but false,” he said.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene also told MP Wijesiri that he will have to prove all the allegations he had made. 

MP Wijesiri earlier accused the Speaker for failing to take action on the harassment he had suffered in the hands of some officials in Parliament. He also accused those in his own party for failing to defend him.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Raids and Special Investigations Unit of the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) has sealed the storage facility owned by a leading sugar importer in Sri Lanka, for hoarding over 250 metric tonnes of sugar.

The relevant storage facility was sealed during a series of raids carried out by the CAA in the Peliyagoda and Grandpass areas on Tuesday (14 Nov.), the CAA reported.

Another wholesale distributor was also sealed off by the CAA during these raids, on account of hoarding 5 metric tonnes of sugar, for the purpose of selling the relevant stock of sugar for a higher price than that listed in the recently introduced Maximum Retail Price (MRP).

The investigating CAA officers had also taken measures to file a court case against the said wholesale distributor, on charges of selling sugar at prices higher than the MRP.